Tree-moving apparatus



June 17, 1930.

P. H. DAVEY Er AL TREE MOVING APPARATUS Filed April 25, 1929 3 Sheets-Sheet l INVENToR.

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A TTORNE Y.

June 17, 1930.

P. H. DAVEY ET AL TREE MOVING APPARATUS Filed April 25, 1929 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 I4 i 74 ,8 16, f@ /3 /7 g@ f ,ya

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QTTORNEY.

June 17, 1930. p H, DAVEY Er AL TREE MOVING APPARATUS' Filed April 23, 1929 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented June 17, 1930 l UNITED STATES PATENT oFFicE PAUL H. DAVEY, OF KENT, OHIO, AND JAMES A. DAVEY, F SOUND BEACH,

, i CONNECTIGUT TREE-MOVING APPARATUS Application led April 23,

Our said invention relates to tree moving apparatus and it is an object of the'same to provide apparatus particularly suitable for quick tran-splanting of small trees and shrubs, though it may also be utilized with trees of considerable size.

Another object of the invention is to provide a truck having an elevated track for a trolley, such track being supported by a collapsible frame Work. This makes it possible to store the truck in an ordinary garage as well as to move it more conveniently among tree-s and the like and to utilize the truck conveniently for other than the purposes above indicated, as for example to drag a trailer.

Referring to the drawings, which are made a part of this application and in which similar reference characters indicate similar parts 0 Fig. 1 is an elevation of our device in position to remove a tree,

Fig. 2 illustrates a step 1n the operation of separating the tree from its foundation,

Fig. 3 illustrates another step in the procless of transplanting Fig. 4. is a plan of our device,

Fig. 5, a rear elevation,

Fig. 6, a side elevation of a preferred form of the invention Fig. 7, a fragmentary rear elevation, and

Fig. 8, a detail of a tapered pin forming a part of our construction.

In the drawings reference chal'acter 10 indicates the body of a conventional truck driven by an engine of any conventional or desirable type, said truck having a bottom or floor 11 on which are supported uprights 12, and inclined posts 13, the members 12 and 13 being arranged in pairs along the length of the bottom 11 and being connected by upper frame members comprising cross-bars 14 of suitable design, here shown as flat bars with upwardly extending flanges.

5 beyond the rearmost of them thus permit- Diagonal braces 15 connect the rearmost up* i929. serial No. 357,555.

ting a trolley 17 running on the track to move back to a substantial distance beyond the rear end of the truck. The trolley may be of a conventional type having pairs of rollers 18 (Fig. 2) running on the track 16 and having a chain 19 manually operable to raise or lower a weight suspended from the trolley by a chain 20, the trolley being supplied with suitable ratchet mechanism of any conventional or desirable type for maintaining the chain 20 and its load at the desired elevation.

Gin-poles 21 are connected to opposite sides of the device, as by means of eyes 22 secured to the inclined posts 13 and these gin-poles are provided at their lower ends with telescoping sections 2.3 (Fig. 5) held in adjustable position by screws 24 whereby the operative length of the gin-poles can readily be varied. At their lower ends the sections 23 are provided with pointed ends or other suitable means for connecting them to feet 25 in such a `manner that the feet can adjust themselves to any inequalities of the ground. These adjustable gin-poles take the excessive strain of lifting such heavy weights as are intended to be moved by my device off the rear of the truck and also support the truck against the strain involved in pulling a tree and raising it to the level of the truck body, which would be liable to tip the truck over backward. A Winch 26 on the truck is operated by a bar 26 or from the engine and a rope 27 carried thereby is adapted to be used for various purposes by means of two pulleys 28 (Figs. 4 and 5) at the rear of the truck, a hook 29 (Fig. 3) adapted to support a pulley 30 and other parts hereinafter described.

In the operation of moving a tree with the device as above described the truck is iirst backed, up to the tree as in Fig. 1 and the chain 2O is secured to the lower part of the tree by any convenient means such as will not injure the tree. Previous to this the earth has been dug up at a distance from the tree to leave a ball of roots as indicated at 31 in Figs. 1 and 2. If it is desirable to loosen the tree by power the rope 27 is now stake 33 or to a suitably located tree andois then attached to the tree by means of suitable devices 33 such as will not damage the bark. Thereupon the winch is operated to pull the tree over as indicated in Fig. 2. In connection with this operation or subsequent thereto the hand hoist is operated by means of the chain 19 to elevate the tree to a point where the ball of roots will not strike the truck when the trolley and the tree suspended therefrom are moved forward relatively to the truck. After hoistingr the tree in the manner described the rope 27 is led over the pulley 30 and attached to the trolley 17. Thereupon the power winch is again operated to pull the trolley and the tree forward into such a position as illustrated in Fig. 3. rl`he gin-poles 21 are now moved to the dotted lineposition of Fig. 3 and held in place by loops of rope 34 or other suitable means. The truck may now be moved to the place where the tree is to be replanted and b v a reveise series of opera-` tions the tree will be positioned in a hole for planting.

In the preferred form of our device illustrated in Figs. 6 to 8 the track 36 is supported by cross-bars 37 to which it is `pivotally connected by means of upwardly extending arms 38 pivoted at 38 lto brackets 39, a pair of these brackets being secured to each of the cross-bars. The cross-bars are supported by posts 40, 41 and Q, providing what may be termed bows, pivotally supported at their lower ends, the rearmost posts having eyes at 43 for attachment ot' gin-poles 21 as in the form previously described. The posts 42 are pivotally mounted on brackets 44 by means of pins 45', the brackets being secured to floor member 46 at opposite sides thereof. Post 41 may be similarly supported on the same brackets and the posts 41 are connected as by stop chains 45 to brackets 47 on which the posts 4() are pivoted. Braces 48 are each secured at one end to an ear 49 on the post 40 and at the other end are secured by tapered adjusting pins 50 to 4brackets 51. A single brace 48 and a single chain 45 may suitice in some cases, and other obvious changes of this sort are, of course, contemplated by us.

The cable 27 ot' the winch 26 is here shown in connection with the dotted line collapsed position of the superstructure as p assing about a pulley 52 pivotally connected to a fixed eye 51, the cable passing thence over a rest roller 54 mounted on supports 55 on which the superstructure is supported when in collapsed position, and so to a clevis 56 or other suitable attaching means near the end of track 36. It will be evident that the superstructure can be raised from its collapsed position by means of the power winch, its clockwise movement being limited by stop chain or chains 45 and the tapered pin 50 being driven home after braces 48 are roperly positioned, so as to take up any s ack in the stop chain or in the various joints of the superstructure.

The superstructure can be lowered by hand or it can be lowered under control of the winch by attaching the the free end of the cable to the hook 29. Any conventional or desirable type of winch may be used for our purposes, conventional gearing being indicated at 57 for driving the winch by the power of the engine. When a tree has been located on the truck as indicated in Figure 3 it is preferably held against further -forward movementby a rope or chain 58 secured at one end to the track or other suitable tixed part and at the other end to the supporting chain 20 or to some other part movable With the trolley. The ground in the neighborhood of a. tree to be removed is often soft and the broad feet serve to prevent the gin-poles from sinking unduly into the ground While the universal connection enables the feet to rest effectively on any surface.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made in our invention and therefore we do not limit ourselves to what is described in the specification or shown in the drawings but only as indicated in the appended claims.

Having thus fully described our invention What we claim is:

1. Tree-moving apparatus comprising a vehicle having a body, a collapsible superstructure on the body including an elevated track, supporting means for the track pivoted to the track and to the vehicle body, a brace pivoted to a member of the superstructure, a tapered adjusting pin engaging registered tapering holes in the brace and in a body member, and means for limiting the movement ot' the superstructure by said pin.

2. Tree-moving apparatus comprising a vehicle having a body, a collapsible superst-ructure on the body including an elevated track, supporting means for the track pivoted to the track and to the vehicle body, a

brace pivoted to a member of the superstructure, a stop chain connecting a pivoted member of the superstructure to the body for limiting the upward and rearward movement of the superstructure, and means for taking up slack in said chain.

3. Tree-moving apparatus comprising a vehicle having a body, a collapsible superstructure on the body including an elevated track, supporting means for the track pivoted to the track and to the vehicle body, means for limiting the collapsing movement of the superstructure, a roller on said limitingmeans, a power-operated Winch on the vehicle, means adjacent one end of the collapsed superstructure for attachment of a cable, a pulley adjacent t-he opposite end of the vehicle, and a cable operated by said winch said cable passing over said pulley and said roller to the attaching means.

4. Tree-moving apparatus comprising a vehicle having a body, a collapsible superstructure on the body including an elevated track, upper frame members carrying the track, supporting posts for the track each pivot-ed to the vehicle body and rigidly fixed to an upper frame member, and means for normally holding the superstructure rigid in elevated position.

5. Tree-moving apparatus comprising a vehicle having a body, an elevated track, a collapsible superstructure on the body including crossbars supporting the track, posts fixed directly to said crossbars and pivoted to the vehicle body, a power-operated winch on the body, and means for connecting the Winch to the superstructure for raising the superstructure.

6. Tree-moving apparatus comprising a vehicle having a body, a collapsible superstructure on the body including an elevated track, rigid bows pivotally supported on the vehicle body and carrying said track, means for limiting the collapsing movement of the superstructure, a roller on said limiting means, a power-operated winch on the vehicle, means adjacent oneend of the colp lapsed superstructure for attachment of a cable, a pulley adjacent the opposite end of the vehicle, a cable operated bysaid winch said cable passing over said pulley and said roller to the attaching means, a trolley on the track, and means at the forward end of the superstructure whereby the cable may be guided Yior attachment to the trolley.

7. Tree-moving apparatus comprising a vehicle having a body, a superstructure on said body, gin-poles pivotally connected to the rear end of the superstructure at opposite sides thereof for swinging movement from operative osition with their ends on the ground to id e position alongside the vehicle body, means for holding the lower ends ot' the 1n-poles stationary 1n idle position alongsi e the body, an elevated track carried by the superstructure between said gin-poles, a trolley on the track, and hoisting means carried by the trolley.

8. Tree-moving apparatus comprising a vehicle having a body, a collapsible vsuperstructure on the body including an elevated track, rigid bows supporting said track and pivoted to the vehicle body, means for normally holding the superstructure rigid in elevated position, and a hook at the front en d of the track for attachment of the cable for lowering the superstructure under power control.

9. In a tree-moving apparatus, a vehicle, means for rocking the tree away from the vehicle to uproot it including a pulley located approximately in line with the tree and the vehicle, the tree being between the vehicle and the pulley, means on the vehicle for hauling the tree into position on the truck with its roots and adhering ball of earth foremost, and a power-operated winch on the vehicle for operating both the treerocking and the hauling means.

l0. Tree-moving apparatus comprising a vehicle having a body, a superstructure on said body, an elevated track carried by the superstructurea trolley on the track, tree hoisting means carried by the trolley, a power-operated winch on the vehicle body, a cable on the winch, and means for guiding the cable for attachment to a tree behind the vehicle said means including a pulley to be located at the side of the tree remote from said vehicle whereby the power of the winch may be utilized for loosening the tree.

11. Tree-moving apparatuscomprising a vehicle having a body, a superstructure on said body, an elevated track carried by the Superstructure, a trolley on the track, tree hoisting means carried by the trolley, a power-operated Winch on the vehicle body, a cable on the winch, a pulley to be located in spaced relation to a tree at the side thereof remote from the vehicle for guiding the cable for attachment to the tree for the purpose of rocking the tree away from the vehicle by the power of the winch so as to loosen the tree and for then holding it in proper position for loading, and means on 4the superstructure for guiding a cable to the trolley whereby the tree may be drawn into positlon for transportation with its roots and adhering ball of earth adjacent to the front of the vehicle.

In testimony whereof we aiix our signatures.

PAUL H. DAVEY. JAMES A. DAVEY.

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